MALIBU, Calif. – The Pepperdine women's basketball team fell at home to Portland on Thursday night 64-62. Malia Bambrick led all scorers with 16 points.

The Waves (14-11, 8-7 WCC) led by as many as 15 in the third quarter, but an ice-cold fourth quarter which saw only four baskets fall for the Waves gave the Pilots (17-10, 10-6 WCC) the chance they needed to come back.

BIG WAVES

·         Sophomore guard Malia  Bambrick (Santa Clarita, Calif./Bishop Alemany HS) led all scorers with 16 points. She shot 5-for-14 from the field and 3-for-8 from three, including a three with 14 seconds left to tie the game at 62.

·         Senior guard Barbara Sitanggan (Fullerton, Calif./Troy HS) had 14 points, shooting 6-for-14 from the field. She also added five assists.

·         Redshirt-Senior guard Hannah Friend (San Clemente, Calif./Sacramento State) also had 14 points. She finished with 10 rebounds, good for her first double-double of the year.
 

PLAY-BY-PLAY

The Waves started off well, scoring two of the first three baskets. A seven-point run late in the first gave Pepperdine a 14-9 lead going into the second quarter. Friend had nine of her 14 in the first.

The second quarter was more of the same, as the Waves stretched their lead to as many as nine thanks to great ball movement as six different Waves scored. The Waves took a 30-21 lead into the locker room at half time.

Pepperdine came out hot in the third, going on a 10-4 run in the first three and a half minutes to give the Waves their largest lead of the night at 15 with 6:33 on the clock. That pace was kept up throughout the quarter, as the Waves held on to a 10-point lead with just ten minutes left.

In the fourth, the Waves went cold, scoring just nine points on four baskets. The Pilots scored 21 points, including a 7-0 run to take the lead at 58-57 with 2:48 left to play. The teams went back and forth until Bambrick hit a three-points shot with 14 seconds left on the clock to tie the game at 62. A shooting foul drawn by the Pilots gave them two points after both foul shots were made. The Waves had a small chance to win the game, but a half-court heave went over the backboard to give the Pilots the 64-62 victory in Malibu.

KEY STATS

·         The Waves shot just 34% during the contest, while the Pilots shot 40%.

·         The fourth quarter was by far the worst shooting quarter for the Waves, who scored just nine points shooting 26.67%.

·         Portland controlled the glass, bringing down 46 rebounds, 16 of which were offensive boards.

·         Neither team shot the three-ball very well, but Portland had the slight advantage, shooting 35.7% to the Waves 26.6%.

UP NEXT

The Waves are back in action on Saturday for the final regular-season game in Firestone Fieldhouse this season. The six seniors will be honored before the team takes on #13 Gonzaga, with tip-off scheduled for 2 p.m.